


Trust

by WinterSorceress



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Drabble, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 05:09:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2760827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterSorceress/pseuds/WinterSorceress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With her sanctuary finally broken away, Annie is left to the mercy of the outside world.  However, when she wakes up in a warm bed instead of in chains, she realizes that, despite all she has done, there is still someone who calls her friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nory/gifts).



> This is a drabble request from a friend I wrote a few months ago. She wanted Aruani (Annie x Armin) and this is what I came up with. This was practically my first time writing for this pairing.

Frozen.

That was her whole world. Nothing moved, save for the tiniest beating of her heart. She heard only silence, felt only numbness.

There was only her, locked away with her memories.

Her comrades dominated them, warm Reiner and sweet Bertholdt. She also remembered Sasha and Connie, partners in crime, and headstrong Jean. There had been Krista too, the class sweetheart, and Ymir, who was rarely far from her side.

She wondered if her inkling about that secretive woman had been corrective, that she was actually one of them. Unfortunately, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. She didn’t even know how much time had passed already.

Days, months, years, they meant nothing to her now.

 

* * *

 

 

There was a disturbance in her world.

Something was attempting to drag her back to the one she left behind. She felt her protective shell, her crystal, shudder and despaired. They had found a way and now they were coming for her.

She could only imagine the hell that awaited her, the hell that she knew she deserved, with her blood soaked hands.

However, nothing happened, for the longest time. Her sanctuary had indeed been broken away, but nothing disturbed her. No one yelled or struck her in fury. Only peace greeted her, then warmth, a familiar warmth.

A bed; she was lying in a bed…

Annie’s blue eyes snapped open with a quiet gasp, and the world flooded back to her. Frantic to figure out what had transpired, she scanned her surroundings like a hawk, a disoriented hawk. To her surprise, the room she awoke in seemed to bear nothing unusual.

She wasn’t even restrained…

The biggest surprise was waiting at her bed side. She turned her golden head when she noticed her guest. Carefully, she sat up, hoping not to disturb them until she was ready.

“…Armin?” Annie breathed, taking in the blond boy slumbering peacefully, resting his head on his arms.

The shifter didn’t understand. He knew what she was as well as her traitorous crimes. Why did he sleep here, alone?

Did he…still trust her?

Quietly, the blue-eyed boy stirred, blinking wearily, before beginning to rise. However, he practically jumped awake when he noticed her, jolting to action. Warmly, he greeted her with a friendly smile.

“Oh, Annie…you’re finally awake,” Armin declared happily before his gaze softened. “So…how are you feeling?”

Bewildered by his calm, welcoming demeanor, the young woman hardly knew how to respond. “I…I’m fine…I think,” she muttered uneasily, having more troubling matters in mind. “But…I don’t understand...I’m the Female Titan. Why aren’t I in chains?”

Looking over herself, she could see that only her military jacket had been removed, though no doubt somewhere nearby, leaving her in her favorite white hoodie. Armin, on the other hand, was in full uniform. He seemed a little more handsome than she remembered, and more mature, while his eyes were sharper than ever. She wondered what he could’ve gone through while she had been sleeping.

At her question, those intelligent eyes gained a certain smugness. “Well…I guess me when it comes down to it,” he answered, scratching his cheek. He then leaned forward intently. “You see…I convinced the higher ups that we’d be able to work with you...and that you maybe even might be willing…to share information.”

She never expected someone as clever as Armin to entertain such farfetched idealism. “And…you really think I’ll cooperate to such an extent?”

That smile didn’t fade. “No, not really actually…But…I believe we can trust you…” In fact, it widened, with a touch of sadness, as his eyes locked with hers intensely. “…And…I refuse to see you as an enemy. You will always be dear to us…to me.”

Annie was speechless, dazed by his optimistic outlook.

As if feeling bashful, the boy lowered his gaze. “Just because you have your reasons, something else worth fighting for…doesn’t make you a ‘bad person’ in my eyes,” he continued, lifting it once again. “…I promise you…we’ll figure out how to fix this. Just remember, that no matter what, you’re not alone. I’ll be right here.”

Touched, the shifter found it hard not to be moved almost to tears. After all that had happened, he still saw her as…human, his comrade, and maybe more. It was more than she deserved, she was sure.

A brisk knock on the wooden door interrupted them. Without waiting for an answer, two ranking recon officers let themselves in. It only took one glance over to gauge that they weren’t nearly as keen towards her.

“We’ve come to take Annie Leonhart for questioning.”

Alarmed, Armin looked between them, fearing for her.

“Don’t worry. I can take it from here…” she assured, urging herself out of bed. She spotted her jacket on a far chair and went for it, but not before planting a kiss on Armin’s cheek, leaving a mildly flustered boy in her wake. “Thank you…”

She said nothing more. Silently, she retrieved her jacket and joined the escorts without resistance. Even as they loomed over her with distaste, she wasn’t afraid.

Even when in the enemy's hold, someone was on her side.


End file.
